Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

The pondage has also been fishing well for anglers using dough-style baits around the ‘Footbal oval’ and Burke Street. Pink coloured powerbait and the ‘Garlic nymph’ dynamite bait have been the best performers. Just make sure to fish them on a fine gauge treble instead of a standard hook.

Customer Emir has been fishing the pondage at Eildon recently, where there have been some nice trout starting to show. Cooler weather has brought the trout into a more active feeding mood and this has resulted in better fishing. Emir caught a lovely 2kg brown trout in his last session, using Rapala F7 spotted dogs.

Lake Eildon Staff member Ian fished the lake late last week targeting some trout. With some fish showing up deep on the sounder, Ian dropped a few lures into the depths using his downrigger. With some Tassie devils set at around 70ft, he managed some nice trout on a tassie in colour 102.

If you're a keen freshwater fisho, and want to tangle with some good Redfin and Trout now is the time to get across to Western Victoria. Lake Tooliorook is just out of Colac and is producing some lovely fish. 

Customer Brian from the Bendigo Angling Club went across and fished the lake to land both Trout and Redfin. The Trout were mainly caught on flatlined Tassies while most Redfin were caught on Maria and Strike Pro vibes around the northern side of the lake.

If you're looking for a chance to tangle with some beautiful Trout this side of closed season, get up to the Snowys this weekend!  From all reports the Trout fishing is awesome and with fish averaging 3-6lb, who wouldn't want to catch them!  Mitch and Shane have both fished the Eucumbene in the last week and have caught some crackers, with some on Hardbodies and some taking flies fished on the spin outfits.  Just make sure you pack some thermals, glowbugs, and Rapala F11's!

With the water starting to cool, it's a great time of year to start targeting Trout in both lakes and rivers before they move to spawn, Customer Paul sent us a report from Lake Eucembeme where he fished recently, to catch some lovely Trout with the biggest being a Brown of 6.5lb.  Paul says that trolling Rapala Spotted Dogs early in the morning was the best method.

Speaking of lovely Trout, Customer Jurek also sent a report in to us from a recent trip over to Ballarat fishing with his wife.  While he was outfished by the missus, he was rapt to see her land such a beautiful fish - a lovely Rainbow Trout that measured 59.5cm and weighed in around 3kg.  He said that this particular fish danced across the water like a Marlin, jumping out over 4 times.

Good customer Andrew fished the Western Lakes with his mates last week, where they tried Fyans, Bolac and Bullen Merri.  Lake Bolac was very slow, but Fyans was good. They caught plenty of Trout to 2lb running Rapala F9 Spotted Dogs at around 2.5m.  Bullen Merri was also slow, with just a few fish caught downrigging FLC coloured Tassies around the edge of the lake.

Lake Eildon has been fishing well, with quieter conditions and less water traffic keeping the fish going.  While the Natives can still be caught, the colder conditions have been good for the Trout.  Staff member Dylan has been fishing the lake recently, with mixed bags.  While the Murray Cod can be hard work, he has caught Cod more often than not while targeting them.  Spinnerbaits and Large Lipless Crankbaits have been the best.  There are plenty of small Redfin about, and the trick is to move about the timber until you find the slightly larger fish.  While having a break from the Cod, Dylan has been trying his luck for some larger Trout, with colder water temperature bringing on plenty of surface activity.  Casting Hybrid Lipless Crankbaits like Jackall Mask Vibs has been a good way to stir up the bigger Trout sitting deep along the timbered shorelines of Big River and Jew’s Creek.

Customer Marek and his son have been fishing around Sugarloaf and Eildon while having a break from the saltwater action, and they have caught some nice Yellowbelly fishing soft plastics.  Small curl tail soft plastics have been the best for them.
 

Customer Peter recently tried some new lures out on the Trout. After picking a few different colours of Waxwing Jigs, Peter took them for a test run on the Ovens River out from Bright. He caught plenty of fish on them, and some very nice size fish, up to 2kg. He also said that he lost a much Trout estimated around 3-3.5kg when it jumped off. Peter said that the best thing about the lures was how simple they were to use, with a constant slow wind working the best.

While summer is not generally regarded as the peak time to fish for Trout, there has been some good action lately in most rivers and impoundments.  Lake Eildon is fishing well for all species, Trout, Redfin, and natives such as Golden Perch and Murray Cod.  Many regular customers enjoy fishing the lake at this time of year, and most are catching quality bags of Trout from the main lake and pondage on a variety of techniques. 

Laszlo has been catching Trout up to 800g along with some large Carp fishing the Jerusalem Creek arm of the lake using Scrubworms and Powerbait Nuggets.  Danny has also been fishing the Lake, mainly trolling small 7g tassies tight to the shoreline from Big River up towards Goughs Bay, and is being rewarded with plenty of Brown Trout averaging 300-500g, and also a few larger fish between 1-1.3kg.  Most of the fish took bright yellows and whites and were more active earlier in the morning before the sun got directly overhead.

Up around Bonnie Doon, the Redfin fishing continues to be very good, with the average sized fish being around 300g which is good.  Most anglers catching the larger fish are fishing larger baits of yabby or scrubworm and by doing this you can also catch a Cod or Yellowbelly, as customer Jim did.  While he didnt plan on catching the 4lb Yellowbelly while fishing for Redfin he certainly wasn't complaining!

Closer to home, Sugarloaf Reservoir has been hit and miss for Redfin, anglers persisting with small spinners or soft plastics are still finding some fish.  The key is to work the standing timber thoroughly, and if a school is found then stay in the area.  Changing lure colour and profile can help in fooling the fish also.

The upper Yarra River around Warburton has been fishing well for Trout recently.  The small flush of rain we received has dirtied the water slightly, but conditions for lure casting are still good with plenty of wadable water.  Staff member Dylan has fished the area a bit recently, and recommends using hardbodies with gold or flash sides.  Some of the better lures at the minute have been Ecogear MW62, Pontoon21 Gagagoon and Strike Pro Pygmys.  With the warm conditions the Redfin have also become more active, and will hit the same lures.  For the fly angler, French and Olive Bead-headed Nymphs are catching a lot of fish in the backwaters and slower pockets.

For anglers wanting to fish an easier technique but would rather not have to use live bait, the Gulp! Alive Crickets have been very effective on summer Trout.  Simply fished with splitshot or using the aid of a bubble float, the Crickets work well drifting down through riffles and runs and also in the deeper pools of the rivers.  Normally Grasshoppers and Crickets are on the menu for Trout during the warmer months of the year, so why not give the fish what they are looking for!

Customer Andrew has been catching Redfin out of Rowville Lakes on 1.5” Pro Grubs and Damiki Monster Mikis fished on light jigheads.  Casting around the reed edges with the plastics has been the go.

Lots of Redin are being caught in Sugarloaf Reservoir by customers.  Most are fishing vibe-style lures like this Ecogear ZX35.

Craig fished the Howqua River last week, chasing some of the Trout.  While the Trout were hard to tempt, he did catch some large Carp to 2kg on Chunky Cheese Powerbait.  He noticed late in the afternoon that the Trout were rising to take small White Moth off the surface.

Staff member Dylan has still been chasing Yellowbelly around the local lakes and dams, with a few smaller fish up around 1.5kg taking Jackall TN’s and 1/4oz Bassman Spinnerbaits.

Good customer Justan went to Lake Eppalock with some mates for a weekend trip, and after buying a few ‘must have’ lures from the boys, he did well on some large Redfin, while his mates struggled to get a fish.  Needless to say he is hooked on spinning for the Reddies now.

Ryan also fished Eppalock during the week chasing Redfin, but instead managed Yellowbelly up to 44cm, all caught on Jackall Mask Vibes. 

Lake Wendouree has been fishing well for Trout over the last week.  Customer George gave us a report of excellent numbers of Brown Trout up to 1.2kg taking Mudeyes and Gulp! Crickets fished under a ‘AAA’ sliding float.

Piotr and his mates like to catch Eels around the Dandenong area in the creeks, and they say that lately the Eels have been going off over the last week with the hot weather.  Using scrubworms as bait is very effective for Piotr, who likes to use the Eels for Gummy Shark bait.

Customer Michael fished the Yarra twice over the last week around the Warrandyte area chasing Murray Cod.  Using large Scrubworms on a running sinker rig, he caught 2 Cod, with the biggest being around 40cm.  Michael also caught 2 Macquarie Perch in the same stretch of water, which he released back into the river.

Lake Eildon has been a little bit quiet this week again with lots of boat traffic, but fishing early morning or late afternoon is the key.  Customer Jamie followed this principle and caught 2 Murray Cod, one at 49cm, and the second at 62cm.  Both fish took live yabbies fished with very little weight, fished off the main Eildon wall boat ramp.

Staff member Ian has fished Lake Bolac a few times over the last few weeks, giving the Lake's large Rainbow Trout a go. Being a shallow lake less than 3m deep, flatlining is the best option. Most of Ian's fish have been caught on 'spotted dog' Rapalas, along with a couple of Tassies.

Staff member Dylan also went across to Lake Bolac during the week to have a crack at the Trout while the fishing has been good, and managed two nice fish despite the rough onshore wind. Flatlining medium running hardbodies has still been the best tactic.

Geoff reports that Lake Dartmouth has been fishing well, with lots of fish coming out. Most of the anglers seem to be downrigging Tassies and other winged lures for good numbers of smaller fish, whereas Geoff says all the better sized fish were coming from tight along the shorelines, on Rapala 'spotted dogs' as well as Strike Pro Galaxia minnows.

Lake Eildon has been on fire for the Reddies over the last few weeks, with the water temp starting to creep up. Most anglers are simply bobbing the timer with yabbies and scrubworms, but an increasing number are also using plastics and vibes around the same areas. Local angler Scott has been jigging some impressive hauls of Redfin up to 1kg on Strike Pro vibes fitted with assist hooks, and rarely losing any lures.

Customer David had a look around the Lake for the Golden Perch during a spell of warmer days, mainly trolling the rockwalls around the entrance of the Delatite arm, and further in the arm around standing timber. He was trolling Merlin UD's in purple and pink colours, and the purple took one fish of around 4lb.

Laszlo fished Eildon over Cup weekend with a few of his mates, launching and fishing in Jew's Creek. The boys caught heaps of Redfin up to 700g, with a few on lures but most mainly on troutworms.

Terry has been baitfishing Eildon pondage recently and has found the fishing a bit tough, especially in the lower pondage. The best bait for the fish he has caught has been the Gulp salmon eggs fished on a standard powerbait rig.

Andrew fished Lake Bullen Merri during a club comp and had some good success trolling Tassies in colours 97, 101 and 108. The fish caught ranged from 200g up to 1.8kg, and were caught downrigging around 10m close to the edges.

Staff member Dylan fished the Goulburn River just recently, and with the rivers running quite hard, the lure fishing was a bit difficult, but there were still fish that were lure hungry.  In the Alexandra region of the Goulburn, Rapala Maxraps and Strike Pro Flatz Minnows were the best lures to rip through the fast moving water, with Brown Trout to 3lb, and Redfin to 2lb responding well.  Smaller crankbaits like SX40’s and Crackjack 48’s along with small mudeye pattern soft plastics proved more effective in the smaller feeder streams further south. 

Customer Jacob recently got back into Trout spinning, after noticing the potential of some creeks local to him.  Using various styles of lures, Jacob has caught some nice Trout in some very small creeks that many people would walk past, with his most effective lure being a number 1 celta in colour ONV.

The Western Districts lakes are firing again as we speak, with both Bullen Merri and Purrumbete producing some trophy sized Trout.  Reports of fish over 6kg have been confirmed; with plenty more around the 2-3kg mark as well.  All techniques are working well, with baitfishing from the shoreline, and downrigging the edges being the most popular.

Nick took a drive to Lake Eildon to check out the water level and see if he could find a few Trout.  Nick and his mate caught fish working the timbered shorelines of Jew’s Creek, throwing hardbodies like Daiwa Double Clutches and Nories Laydown Minnows in and around the bankside vegetation.  They hooked a few monsters that couldn’t be stopped, but landed Trout to 600g.

Jordan has been fishing around Eildon in the pondage and rivers and has caught some nice Trout, mainly using suspending hardbodies and small paddletail soft plastics

Colin fished around Bonnie Doon with some mates recently, mainly targeting the coarse species in Lake Eildon, with good results.  Some Lovely Trout made up the bags, along with loads of Roach, Redfin and Carp.  The guys normally fish maggot/feeder cage rigs with lots of berley on the coarse species.